The budget request for Missile Defense is a bit larger than the sum commonly reported. The Pentagon's budget splits the program into the "Defense-wide" line-item called "Missile Defense" and an Air-Force-funded sensor called SBIRS-High, for Space-Based Infrared Satellite (High altitude). The Pentagon's news release—and most newspapers—cited just the Defense-wide request. The actual combined budget breaks down as follows:

($ millions)

FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2006
Missile Defense 9,066.9 9,900.3 8,844.6
SBIRS-High 621.8 594.2 756.6
Total M.D. 9,688.7 10,494.5 9,601.2